April 2014 1

Newsletter

ALBER TA STRING ASSOCIATION

April 2014

A message from the Alberta String Association’s new president, Mathias Silveira.

Be a member of the Alberta String Association:

If you are reading this, then you must be either a string player or affiliated to the string world in some way, shape, or form. Are you an ASA member? If not, why? If you are a string teacher, joining gives your students full access to all the programs, masterclasses, workshops and events that we offer. The ASA is looking for ways to offer more value to our members and I thank all our existing members for being supportive of the only association of its kind. The board is always looking for more committed members to help execute all the wonderful plans that we have on the table. Welcome to an association that is committed to making itself a home that all string players in Alberta can belong to and help and support each other as one big string family.

Upcoming events:

We are very excited to announce an event in Calgary with concerts and masterclasses. This event is scheduled for the first weekend of May (May 2-3) at the University of Calgary, involving the Music Enrichment Program from Edmonton and the Calgary Youth Orchestra. The ASA had a successful trip to Grande Prairie last year and we hope this similar trip to Calgary will also be a success. We will also be involved in Music Conference Alberta, which happens in October, where we hope to showcase all that is strings in Alberta. We are also planning a gala concert which will involve a good number of string players from our city.

Mathias has been teaching at the Alberta College Conservatory of Music since 1998 and has been a violin instructor and orchestra conductor for the Music Enrichment Program for the last 6 years. He joined the Alberta String Association Board of Directors in 2011.

PRESIDENT Mathias Silveira VICE PRESIDENT Tyson Oatway TREASURER Brent Gustafson SECRETARY Guillaume Tardif

Petar Dundjerski Amber GallagherKrista MacLlalan

Amy NicholsonAdam Pappas

Trevor Sanders

Isis Tse, Executive Assistant

ASA BOARD

1 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE From new ASA president, Mathias Silveira

2 COLOURSTRINGS by Etelka Nyilasi A cheerful, versatile method for young string players

3 DIETS, DIALOGUES, DUELS by Guillaume Tardif

The evolution of two-violin unaccompanied repertoire since Leclair

4 REPORT FROM THE ROCK by Arlan Vriens Provincial and corporate sponsorship in Newfoundland

BENEFITS OF CHILDHOOD MUSIC LESSONS by Isis Tse

5 INTERVIEW WITH CONDUCTOR PETAR DUNDJERSKI by Isis Tse

6 UPCOMING EVENTS

In this issue:

April 20142

I fell in love with Colourstrings in 2008 when I stumbled upon an older version of their Book A while studying at the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary. I had, until then, struggled with teaching very young children, and after a considered perusal of Book A, I realized that I needed to learn more. The following summer, I attended a week-long teacher-training seminar in the birthplace of this methodology: the East Helsinki Music School in Finland. It was the best pedagogical decision I had ever made, as a whole new spectrum of instrumental music teaching opened up for me. I couldn’t get over the fact that young string students were shifting freely up and down the violin, transposing tunes seamlessly into high positions, and playing

beautiful pieces of music with such freedom and musicality, accompanied by stunning piano accompaniments. Colourful, playful graphic notation with a character and a colour representing each string; learning to play only open harmonics and open strings in its first book; using left hand fingered pizzicato before learning to stop the strings (similar to Mimi Zweig’s “high dot”, except using all four fingers, not just the pinky); clapping, singing with words, singing with movable do solfège (do, re, mi, etc.) before “making the instrument sing the song”... these are just a few unique pedagogical ideas that are the basis of the Colourstrings teaching method.

Group lessons are also employed in the ideal Colourstrings programme. However, they have a specific goal. They are used as a supplement to private lessons from the very earliest stage to provide opportunities for learning together and experiencing chamber music. When playing duets or chamber music arrangements, the young beginners - sometimes with only open strings to play - are often paired with more advanced students in order to experience the performance of higher level music as early as possible. There is plenty of specially-composed and sequenced repertoire to choose from, which gives the teacher and student the freedom to choose according to the needs and musical interests of the child. As soon as I started teaching my next 5-year-old student that same year back in the UK (where I was living at the time), I began to use the Colourstrings method. Soon I found myself experimenting with using it on the piano, and realised that it was just as effective. I have continued to use it exclusively with young beginners since then, and have had plenty of positive feedback from parents. While occasionally I have to alter the sequence of the method depending on the needs and abilities of the child, I

experience the joy and excitement of not just teaching the child how to play the violin or piano in a truly enjoyable way, but also helping to create a well-rounded and skilled musician as well. I love watching a child randomly choosing C#, and then transposing a well-mastered tune into C# major! This past August, I embarked on my next Colourstrings venture: I attended the relatively new Level 2A violin teacher training programme in Austria. Once again, it was an absolutely mind-opening experience. It made me realise how much Colourstrings has been evolving and growing since I was last on a training course, and it was incredibly inspiring. Teachers from different countries - Austria, the Ukraine, and Taiwan (where the method is still fairly new) - brought their Colourstrings-trained students to use in the demonstration classes. Despite the fact that these children were not from the East Helsinki Music School itself, they demonstrated mastery of the Colourstrings methodology just as well as the Finnish students I had previous observed. The relaxation and flexibility in their hands and bodies transferred into beautiful and clean playing. No tapes, no other aids, no finger numbers. Only their ears, hands and hearts.h

Colourstrings by Etelka Nyilasi A cheerful, versatile method for young string players.

Octave harmonics in Colourstrings notation, which allow players to explore the whole fingerboard and develop bow technique.

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info@albertastringassociation.ca

780.435.9569

Alberta String Association203 - 10221 111St

Edmonton AB T5K 2W5

/AlbertaStringAssociation

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or pay with PayPal at www.albertastringassociation.ca

April 2014 3

Many violinists will have been introduced to Jean-Marie Leclair’s art through his unaccompanied duets, whether as part of a pedagogical ‘diet’ or in the context of artistic ‘dialogues’- or even ‘duels’. Compared to the relatively small body of unaccompanied duet works, there is no shortage of two-violin compositions involving a bass or ‘accompaniment’: duo sonatas, double concerti or other concert works figure prominently in Italian, German and French literatures. Compositionally, we can easily appreciate the opportune balance of homophonic and polyphonic/imitative textures that a separate bass allows. Writing

without a separate bass however poses many challenges: two melodic instruments are not only responsible for the exchange of ideas but also for assuring the bass in turn - all within a limited melodic space. This type of writing might have arisen out of necessity (i.e. when a bass is unavailable), pedagogical intent (the privileged teacher-pupil relationship), or as a vehicle to display the violinist-composer’s skill. Not surprisingly, many of these works require advanced players. Taking Leclair’s Sonatas for 2 violins (op. 3 of 1730 & op. 12 of 1746) as a point of departure, we can focus on the evolution of the 2-violin unaccompanied repertoire,

which is particularly characteristic of the French Violin School. We will outline here four (4) periods of unaccompanied violin duets: First, the late baroque to early classical period, with examples from Leclair’s masterpieces and from Telemann’s clever ‘Canonic Sonatas’ of 1738. Then, Viotti and his pupils who led the Conservatoire de Paris, with examples from Viotti’s Sérénades and Duos concertants and Baillot’s duos and etudes (op. 8, 1804; op. 16, 1811; Études harmoniques, posthumous, 1852). Here, as in the Conservatoire’s Méthode, the pedagogical function is often more evident: the teacher is expected to provide the ‘taste-building’ harmonic and rhythmic

French violinist Jean-Marie Leclair died 150 years ago.

Diets, Dialogues, Duels: The Evolution of Two-Violin Unaccompanied Repertoire since Leclair by Guillaume Tardif

frame, and the immersive environment that naturally leads to good tone production and the proper ‘accent’, or stylistic playing. This repertoire also conveniently helps impart theoretical and compositional concepts; it ultimately stimulates creative possibilities (consider for example the exercise of creating two-violin variations on opera tunes or adding a second line to Paganini’s famous Caprices). We see a third period featuring post-Paganinian works by ‘Franco-Belgian’ violinist-composers,

such as de Bériot’s Duos concertants op.57 (1847), Léonard’s Etudes harmoniques (1842), Wieniawski’s Etudes-caprices op. 18 (1862), and Ysaÿe’s Sonate (1915). Finally, we should draw attention to a few neo-baroque and neo-classical works rooted in an expanded tonality, such as Honegger’s Sonatine, (1920), Prokofiev’s Sonata for 2 Violins, op. 56 (1932), and Milhaud’s Duo (1945). These works can be said to be ‘dialoguing’ with the models of the baroque and classical masters. h

JEAN-MARIE LECLAIR’S Sonata for 2 Violins in E major, Op. 12, No. 2

Pietro Locatelli, a colleague of Leclair, also died 150 years ago.

April 20144

In January, I moved from Edmonton to St. John’s, NL to pursue my MMus in Violin Performance at Memorial University of Newfoundland. St. John’s supports a thriving musical community of students and professionals disproportionately large for its population. This includes the large MUN School of Music and the semi-professional Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, along with a prolific series of sold-out musical theatre productions. Provincial and corporate support play a significant role in promoting this vivid music culture in Newfoundland and Labrador. Thanks to provincial government subsidies, undergraduate tuition at MUN costs less than half of what I paid in my days at the University of Alberta – and graduate tuition is even cheaper. These tuition rates are available to all Canadian citizens. For residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, provincial student loans are interest-free. Energy companies also have a notable presence. Suncor Energy, for example, has sponsored NSO student chairs, the

renovation of Suncor Energy Recital Hall (formerly Petro-Canada Hall!) in the School of Music, and a substantial fellowship program for graduate string players. Between provincial and corporate funding, the financial risk of obtaining an arts education is much reduced, and I believe this is reflected in the large number of students at the MUN School of Music.

As an Albertan, this gives food for thought. Perhaps the example of Newfoundland and Labrador is something which can be invoked in future letters to Albertan corporations and decision-making bodies. Suppose for a moment that you were observing from another country. Would you have guessed that the accessible tuition prices and substantial energy company sponsorships were in fact occurring in Newfoundland and Labrador (until very recently a “have not” province) instead of Alberta, Canada’s wealthiest province by per capita GDP? h

The Benefits of Childhood Music Lessons by Isis TseMusical education in childhood positively affects speech response time in adults

According to a study published in the November 2013 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, early music training has a positive effect on the brain’s ability to process sound even decades later. Researchers looked at the brain’s ability to process fast-changing sounds, which is a key component in interpreting speech. Later in life, adults often lose their ability to accurately process certain sounds. In the study, 44 healthy adults (aged 55 to 76), listened to a synthesized speech syllable as researchers measured electrical activity in the auditory brainstem. The neural responses to speech were compared among three groups who had reported varying degrees of musical training in their childhood.

Individuals who had undergone musical training in their childhood had better sound processing skills compared to those who had not, and the more training they had, the more quickly their brains responded to the sound stimuli. The researchers believe that musical training create positive, fixed neural changes in childhood and that such training may prime the hearing system to operate more dynamically.

“This study suggests the importance of music education for children today and for healthy aging decades from now,” said co-author Nina Kraus of Northwestern University. “The fact that musical training in childhood affected the timing of the response to speech in older adults in our study is especially telling because neural timing is the first to go in the aging adult.”h

(Sources: The Journal of Neuroscience: 6 November 2013,

33(45): 17667-17674: Older Adults Benefit from Music

Training Early in Life: Biological Evidence for Long-Term

Training-Driven Plasticity. Travis White-Schwoch et al.

International Business Times: “Music Lessons in Childhood

Prevent Age-Related Hearing Loss.” Roshni Mahesh.)

Arlan Vriens is an MMus candidate in violin performance at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Previous studies include a BMus at the University of Alberta and studies at the Tafelmusik, Oberlin, Tuckamore, and Schlern Festivals.

Report from the Rock by Arlan Vriens

The semi-professional Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1972. This 70-member orchestra is directed by Marc Davis.

Suncor Energy Recital Hall at the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

April 2014 5

How did you become interested in classical music?My mom took me to the concerts, back in Belgrade. I’d been hearing classical music since I was born – my mom played records at home and classical music on the radio all the time. When I started going to concerts, I liked the bigger stuff – orchestras, choirs, string quartets. I started playing the flute when I was 9, and was horrible at it until I was 16, until I decided I really want to use it as a profession. Conducting - well, apparently I conducted the radio when I was too tiny to remember. I got interested in conducting when I was in university; and when I thought I would pursue it as a career choice was in university, when I was around twenty.

What do you enjoy most about your work?It’s the synergy. When we’re all on the same page, when people know their parts so well that they’re free. That’s the most important thing – that they’re free to phrase and play at the top level. They can play the stuff that isn’t in the music. It can only be the result of mastering everything on the page. My job is to give the right energy without getting in the way – add more to the understanding of energy, and helping with clarity – not where 1 and 2 are, but how they are to be played. It’s so difficult to get to that point, but when it does happen, it is the most inexplicably beautiful feeling. I don’t get that from anything else in my life. I like the process of getting there, but sometimes it can be scary and frustrating especially close to the concert, but that’s okay.

What advice can you give to young musicians - aspiring professionals as well as amateurs?I’ll start with those who want to pursue it professionally. It is a very difficult profession. My advice is to be completely and fully committed; it’s the same advice that any person who is good at what they do is going to say. Without a full commitment, it’s

Petar Dundjerski is the conductor of the University of Alberta Symphony Orchestra. He was the Assistant Conductor in Residence of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra 2006-2008, under the mentorship of Music Director William Eddins. Petar Dundjerski has also performed flute professionally on numerous occasions across the city, including the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and has 16 years of experience teaching.Photo by Selena Phillips-Boyle, The Gateway

Interview with conductor Petar Dundjerski by Isis Tse

impossible, I think, almost impossible, to do it well. So what is a young person to do? You have to practice like there’s no tomorrow; hours a day. You have to understand your mental approach to not burning out, but you have to practice a lot, spending the time to learning about other arts to understand the impulse of art, and finally, you have to be an artist. Go to summer festivals to be exposed to people who are just as good as you are, or better, and fail. And learn from failure to improve. You also need to have your mind as an artist. Cut down on television; go out with people who think alike, so you can develop that frame of mind; and surround yourself with people who understand art. The more you know about art and the world, the richer person you will be and the more you will be able to relate to it.

One part of it is your spirituality, and also the technical mastery of art. On your stand: metronome and tuner. Develop your inner sense of your pulse so that it is so strong that you will feel it most of the time. You also need to be in tune – the center of the pitch. Finally, learn how to practice. If you get a folder with a bunch of music, you might get thirty or forty pages of music; like I say in orchestra rehearsals all the time, you put an X before the line that’s really difficult so you know to practice. No one can keep all that music perfectly in their head, so you need to just brush up and refreshen the memory before rehearsal. And go listen to all the pieces you are playing. For amateurs, the same thing - you should listen, play along with your part, again, put the X at the difficult parts, and then practice those slowly. A daily commitment is still important, not 3 hours, maybe just half an hour, but it’s important to keep malleability is a player. Go listen to music, watch a movie, and read a book.

What is the biggest myth about being a conductor?The biggest myth is that it’s easy. It’s not easy at all, especially for people who respect

this art. Even professionals can end up in positions where they don’t have enough time to learn the score and just get by, in what they call “jet-set conducting”. Most orchestras will read those conductors very quickly. Until you start doing it, you realize it’s not that easy. The other myth is that anybody can do it. Ensembles and good musicians are sometimes subjected to people who are not very good conductors, and everything suffers – the goodwill of the player – and the final product.

What is the future of classical music?The future of classical music in Edmonton may be different from rural Alberta, which is different from any point on Earth. I don’t think it will die away, but it will if people keep doing the same things that they have been for the last 30 years. Perhaps it is human nature to be complacent, but not to the point of when survival will suffer. Some lovely ideas are being applied throughout the classical music world, and the ones that don’t fly just die away, which is the way of everything. I think the future is going to be very different, but I don’t know exactly what it is, if I can be vague as that. For most people, when they go to live performances, it’s different than on the radio, but if you have the old school approach, your program notes are seven pages long and everybody dresses a certain way. If you don’t make new people feel welcome, they will not come back; that is not the way. There’s nothing that can shut out people from this world except for people who are part of this world already. I don’t feel pessimistic about the future. I think I understand human nature, and that human nature will find a way. hPictured below: Petar Dundjerski directing the U of A Symphony Orchestra.

April 20146

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra: Masterpieces for GuitarWednesday, May 28 at 7:30PM, Winspear CentreJeanette Sorrell, conductor, harpsichord; Jason Vieaux, guitarVIVALDI: Variations of “La Folia”, VIVALDI: Guitar Concerto, GIULIANI: Guitar Concerto in A Major, TELEMANN: Sinfonia in G Major

FESTIVALS AND AUDITIONS IN ALBERTAEdmonton Youth Orchestra Auditions

April 26, May 7-15 / Room 123, Fine Arts Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton ABEmail eyo@shaw.ca to book your audition

The Hills are Alive June 2014Whispering Pines Camp, Elkwater AB

The Hills are Alive is a music, dance, and cultural extravaganza featuring instruction in fiddle, guitar, mandolin, piano, drumming, bagpipes, jigging, and square dancing.

Amici Summer String Camp

July 21-25, St.Matthew’s United Church, 2035 26A Street SW, Calgary AB

Programs for students ages 5-18: Introduction to the Violin (minimum age 5, no experience), Corelli Program (ages 6-10. minimum 1 year lessons), and Paganini Program (minimum age 8, minimum 2 years lessons.)

Calgary StringfestJuly 28- August 1, St. Matthew’s United Church, 2035 26A Street SW, Calgary AB

Program for advanced string students between the ages of 12 and 20, featuring masterclasses, chamber music, and evening concerts featuring our guest artists and students. Artists include the Amici faculty as well as violinist Kai Gleusteen (concertmaster of the orchestra ‘del Gran Teatre del Liceu’ in Barcelona), pianist Catherine Ordronneau, Dan Scholz (principal violist of the Winnipeg Symphony) and cellist Judith Fraser.

CONCERTS IN EDMONTONAlberta Baroque Ensemble with Robert Uchida: Italian Masters

Sunday, April 27 at 3PM, Robertson–Wesley United Church, 10209 123 StreetALBINONI: Adagio in G Minor, VIVALDI: Concerto for Violin “La Tempesta di Mare”, GEMINIANI: Concerto Grosso in D Minor, LOCATELLI: Concerto for Violin in D Major

Early Music Alberta Festival May 2-4, Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 10037 84 Ave Events include the following: Friday May 2, 2014, 8:00 PM: Three Sopranos: A Roman EveningSaturday May 3, 2014, 3:00 PM: Organ Concert (Marnie Giesbrecht, Joachim Segger)8:00 PM: TIM RAYBORN: The Far Famed Ones: Poetry and Music of the VikingsSunday May 4, 2014, 8:00 PM: Vivaldi - Four Seasons

Edmonton Youth Orchestra, with winners of the 33rd Northern Alberta Concerto Competition Sunday, May 4 at 2pm , Winspear CentreBIZET: Carmen, MOZART: Concerto K.466, MENDELSSOHN: Concerto in G, RAVEL: Sheherazade, KODALY: Hary Janos

St. Albert Chamber Music: Violin and PianoSaturday, May 10 at 7:30 PM , Don’s Piano Showroom, 8 Riel Drive in St. AlbertPatricia Tao, piano & Yue Deng, violin

Vaughan String Quartet: Bach, Beethoven and Brahms

Sunday, May 11 at 3:00pm, Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 10037 84 Ave NWBACH: The Art of Fugue - Contrapunctus No. 9, BEETHOVEN: String Quartet Op. 18 No. 4, BRAHMS: String Quartet op. 51 No. 1 in C minor

Two Orchestras Play the Russian MastersTuesday, May 13: 7:30PM, Winspear CentreESO, RDSO; Katherine Chi, pianoSHOSTAKOVICH: Festive Overture, BORODIN: In The Steppes of Central Asia, GLINKA: Russlan and Ludmilla: Overture, TCHAIKOVSKY: Romeo and Juliet, RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 2

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra: Aranjuez on the HarpSaturday, May 24 at 8PM, Winspear CentreCourtney Lewis, conductor; Xavier de Maistre, harpRODRIGO: Concierto de Aranjuez, SCHREKER: Chamber Symphony, SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 2

Upcoming string events in Alberta: